UAE forces free UK hostage in Yemen
Forces from the United Arab Emirates have rescued a British hostage held for more than a year by al-Qaida in Yemen, authorities in London and Abu Dhabi said yesterday.
A statement carried by the UAE’s official WAM news agency said 64-year-old Douglas Robert Semple, a petroleum engineer, had been kidnapped by al-Qaida in February 2014 in Yemen’s vast desert Hadramawt province.
It said UAE forces had freed Semple in a military operation and taken him to Yemen’s main southern city of Aden, from where he was flown to Abu Dhabi.
It provided no further details about the operation.
The Foreign Office in London confirmed that a British hostage in Yemen had been freed by UAE forces but did not identify him and also provided no further details.
“I’m pleased to confirm that a British hostage held in Yemen has been extracted by UAE forces in a military intelligence operation,” Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement released while he was in Tehran to reopen the British embassy.
Hammond added that the freed hostage was “safe and well” and that Britain was “very grateful for the assistance of the UAE.”
The statement carried by WAM said Semple had been met at the airport in Abu Dhabi by UAE officials and the British ambassador.
He was taken to hospital for health checks and spoke to his wife by telephone, it said. He was to leave for Britain following the medical checks.
WAM said Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan had telephoned British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday night to inform him of the operation.
Kidnapping has long been rife in Yemen, which has been wracked by conflict since March, when a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Yemeni loyalists are backed by countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.